“DisAssociationVille by James Christopher is a flashback heavy drama about love and loss. What makes this film both so enjoyable and interesting is its particular pace of various careful intimate moments. The script, above all, seems to be one of the most noteworthy of efforts I have ever seen in micro budget arena. Its both original, and yet reminiscent of all the things we expect from a good Hollywood film… even though it isn’t by any means a Hollywood film.
The surprising turn of the film is its beautiful balancing act of multiple characters which simply appear fully formed. We don’t need much time to feel forever at home with these beings, and they all feel real and welcoming to us. Perhaps this is thanks to our prospective – pinned with Chris, that we get to follow Derek Babb and his cool naturalism steady all the tones of the film.
Unlike the mumblings of the teacher telling off our lead, this isn’t a film which isn’t working to its ‘potential’, but rather quite the opposite. It is full of potential which is utilised and pushed to its fullest. Perhaps the only criticism I hold is that the film felt perhaps too polished – its sound felt dubbed, its photography rather overly smooth… perhaps a bit more of a rough palette would have made the film even more realistic and nostalgic for the viewer. It is though, regardless of that rough texture I crave, a beautiful story told with much heart, love and care for attention. High recommended.”

We’re very excited to announce that we’ve won the inaugural Frozen Film Festival! We had a great time at this first year fest, soaking up some great films and connecting with film friends new and old. We had a great screening on Saturday night followed by a great party.

At the awards, we were honored to accept the award for Best Feature – Drama.

Thanks again to all of the support from our fans. The cast & crew worked hard on the movie and we all really appreciate the love. Thanks as well to the Frozen Film Fest, Jose Ruiz and the team. Can’t wait till next year!

Twitchy Dolphin Flix’ newest movie DisAssociationVille won the final TrailDance Film Festival on June 30. DisAssociationVille is the 12th micro budget feature from Austin based Twitchy Dolphin Flix. Directed by James Christopher, it stars Austinites Derek Babb, Terissa Kelton, Reece Ryan and Terissa Kelton. After starting its festival run in mid November, the feature has already wracked up 26 official selection and 10 awards and counting.

The TrailDance film festival winds out its 10 year run of screening indie films from around the world in Duncan, OK. Festival Director Anthony Foreman honored James with the Director’s Choice award for the film.

Twitchy Dolphin Flix has been making movies in Austin Texas for 8 years, scoring festival successes with a variety of genres. DisAssociationVille continues its run through 2016 with screenings scheduled across the United States and across the globe, including a screening at the inaugural Ferrara Film Festival in Italy. This weekend, they will take part in the Frozen Film Festival in St. Paul, MN.

We were also a big hit and took away 5 awards!!! We took home BEST DRAMA FEATURE, BEST ACTOR (Derek Babb), BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Marc Wasserman), BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Marcie Price). Director James Christopher EYE CATCHER CREATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD. People responded to the film. Very cool.

So, what’s next. Next up, we are in Corpus for the Texas Premiere as part of the South Texas Underground Film Festival. We play on Saturday December 5 at 3pm.

And that. Is. A. Wrap. We finished the movie in Sabinal this weekend. We spent most of the weekend capturing the town itself. We want Sabinal, with all its quirk and tarnish to be a character in the film. So we spent time getting shots of local business, features and even the drive to and from town, all to enrich the tapestry of the location of the film.

We also wrapped Derek Babb and Terissa Kelton for the film. I can’t say enough about what these two brought to the movie. Their work ethic. Their talent. The bravery. They brought the movie to light and humbled me with their performance. The way I work on set puts a lot of pressure on actors to create.

I can’t help but think back on the 20 shoot days we’ve had. And the 7-8 months of preproduction before that. Or back to 3 years ago when I put the first word of the script down. It’s been a long journey. One that forced me to look at a lot of my own past and deal with things I’d not dealt with in a long time. I honestly didn’t go into looking for some sort of catharsis. And the story we told isn’t necessarily “true.’ I just peppered a story I wanted to tell with realities of my past. But I think I did take some personal growth away from the situation.

With every film we’ve done, it’s been a lot of ups and downs. I hope I come out of it a better filmmaker with a better grasp on how to tell a story through film. The film has been a very emotional, personal one to do and I can’t thank the cast and crew enough for working on it with me. It’s an incredible thing to see so many people working hard to help turn your words into something other people can see. Long drives, long hours all with positive attitudes. We’ve had so many new faces on this set, Emily for one, who brings an infectious, positive energy to set. One such that I can’t wait to get back on set with her.

So what’s next? We’ll be working on post production starting immediately. In fact, we’ve been cutting the movie as we shot and should hit a rough cut of the movie by the end of July. Then it will be a long process of finishing the film. Then…festivals. Our goal is Austin Film Festival in 2015. Fingers crossed.

As for Twitchy, we’ll keep working on our other projects. We have shorts in July/August and then two features in the next year.

Well, the end is sadly, getting near. This past weekend we shot two more days in Sabinal,
Texas with our young stars, Reece Ryan, Leslie Solcher and Sydne Clark.

There is something that these kids are doing with the material that touches me in a way that I’ve not experienced in a long time. The scenes are intended to come across as earnest and unsullied by the years of heartbreak that clouds the vision of their older counterparts. And whether its the pressure that Reece’s Chris is carrying or the young, hopeful kindness in the eyes of Leslie’s Maggie or the dry wit of Sydne’s Jess, they are painting a clear and bright view of young adult hood that makes the impending heartbreak that much more tragic. And it breaks my heart to watch it…and I love it. The scene where Sydne and Leslie teach Reece to dance really encapsulates all of that. Pretty much anything with Leslie and Reece together really pops with the pain of idealistic young love doomed to failure.

But hey, JANET WAS IN TOWN! Janet Mayson came into play Ms. LaGrone (named after one of my favorite teachers EVER!) giving the dreaded “working, but not to potential” speech. AND MARC CAME IN TO ADR! We’re ADRing the whole movie. Crazy? Maybe. But there is a method to the madness folks. So they are here…and we’re almost done? So….WRAP PARTY! Thanks to the folks at Red’s Porch for accommodate us. They were tremendous hosts. And our waiter Dante was epic. I know i was in 5 seats at one point. Yet my food found me. So thanks guys! We’ll be there again soon…

What’s next. 3 days for most of us. Derek Babb and Terissa Kelton are back up this weekend to wrap their parts. Then Chris and I will spend Monday in Sabinal getting some of the atmospheric shots needed for the movie.

I can’t believe its coming to an end. I started out this movie not thinking it would be cathartic. But it has been…